Maybe Later
by Westing1992
Summary: Rose reflects on some difficult decisions regarding a secret she's kept from her friends.


Rose stared at the bubbled Gem in her hand. Bismuth—an ally, turned into an enemy so quickly. No; she had still been her ally, technically, as they were still aligned against Homeworld. But her rhetoric was too militant, her ideology too extreme. This new weapon was simply the progression of what should have been curbed long ago. Rose could never have consented to use it, to intentionally crush Gems, to permanently destroy them. They were the enemy, but they weren't evil. After all, most of the soldiers on their side had been like them once. They were just following orders, doing what they believed their sole purpose was. And even the Diamonds themselves… they might not be able to persuaded, and so would need to be deposed, but even they didn't deserve to be crushed. No Gem did.

But Bismuth hadn't seen it like that. She saw Rose's value of life as a weakness, a flaw that would cause the rebellion to fail. So she had attacked, and Rose was forced to poof and bubble her.

But what now? Rose wondered. It was clear she couldn't just let Bismuth reform—she had been too unreasonable. Let her loose again, and she would go behind her back to find rebels who might agree to use the weapon. But then, what to tell everyone? That their smith was too violent to be free? Some of them might not understand. They'd think losing access to the forge as too high a price to stick to basic principles. They might even think Bismuth was right, that crushing Homeworld Gems was a good idea. They'd get angry at what she'd done, what she had to do—and so the rebellion would be divided against each other, instead of united against Homeworld. That would be worse than just losing the forge.

No, she'd just have to lie, say she got lost during a battle. Maybe later, she'd tell them what really happened later. Later, when the war had been won on her own terms, not on Bismuth's.

Maybe later.

* * *

It was hard. Not physically—even with just Garnet, Pearl, and herself, the monsters were able to be taken down and contained within a few hours each—but mentally, emotionally. After all, these were their friends and allies, minds and forms corrupted by the Diamonds' superweapon. Every battle was a reminder that though they won, they had also lost; that they were the only three Gems who had been protected—

No, that's not quite true, Rose thought. There was another one, one that had been bubbled long before, one that the others didn't know about. Bismuth.

After all, they could use a fourth member. And a familiar face would certainly raise morale. Plus, with Homeworld gone, the conflict between them would be moot.

But would she still be mad at her? Would she understand why Rose had to bubble her? And what of the others? Would _they_ understand? And would they understand why she had lied about it for all this time?

With that in mind, letting Bismuth reform now would probably _lower_ morale. Maybe later, she'd let her rejoin the team. Later, when the others had adjusted to their new situation better.

Maybe later.

* * *

Rose entered the feline hyperdimension and laid the videotape down under the tree. Someday, in the future, her son would find and watch it. And when he did, he would find the rest of these things, these objects that were most precious to her: her sword; the t-shirt from the concert where she had met Greg; the photo they had taken together; and…

She glanced at Bismuth's bubble. Five thousand years, and she hadn't let her out. She hadn't even told anyone the truth. And now, it would be her last chance to do either.

Would Bismuth forgive her? Would she believe that she was sorry she had bubbled her? Except she wasn't sorry; she'd done what she had to do. She was sorry that had to do it, that Bismuth had forced her to, but that was different. It was regret over the circumstances, not her actions.

She didn't think she could stand a confrontation with her over it, to see that her friend still harbored these awful ideas. Plus, she was scared about what might happen to Steven if her anger once again got out of hand.

So what about telling the others? She could explain what happened, give them the bubble, tell them not to open it until…

No, they were already upset that she would soon be gone. It wouldn't be fair for them to learn their leader was a liar on top of all that.

Besides, Steven was going to find this place anyway. Maybe later, he would let Bismuth out on his own accord. Maybe later, she'd tell the truth to the others. Maybe later, she'd understand why her plan was bad. Maybe later, they'd all understand why she did what she did.

Maybe later.


End file.
